A2 Media Coursework Evaluation

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? The media product I have chosen to create is a short film entitled „Collision‟ based around social class and aimed at 12-18 year olds. At the start of this project I thought myself to have a standard awareness of the conventions of films because of previous studying on my media course and through recreational watching of films. However, my knowledge did not expand far enough into the specific short film genre which required me to do independent research into the industry. I looked at other short films with similar themes to my own production to help me gain an in depth understanding which was beneficial to make my own film appear professional. By following the conventions of real media products, I succeeded in creating a product I am proud of.

Duration The short films I watched and studied in my research ranged from 3-15 minutes long. From watching many I felt that sometimes the 3 minute ones could seem to be over quickly and not leave you understanding, but in contrast the 15 minute ones could drag as the narratives are minimal so I chose to create a 5 minute long film. This fits in the conventions and is the right length for the audience to understand but still leave them thinking after.

Topic I noticed the majority of the short films in my research represent real issues in society that the audience can relate to, they can hold very powerful messages behind them. This led me to choosing „Social Class‟ as my topic and the problems it can cause in society, especially amongst youth. It represents how division can be caused by differences in class. The preferred reading of my film film sets out prove a point that even if you think someone may be from a completely different background to you doesn‟t mean you can‟t find things in common and get along. The moral is that social class is not a division; it is merely a personality trait.

Characters From previous research I learnt that most short films feature minimal characters, often only one. This keeps the story simple and easy to tell in the small five minute duration. It is also beneficial for the audience as it makes it easier for them to follow and understand the narrative. I took this information on board and slightly challenged the convention by having two main characters instead of one. I still had a minimalistic narrative and a small amount of characters but my film is based around the bond between the characters so to have two was the best option.

Dialogue After previously realizing that most short films use a minimalistic style in their narratives; not a huge range of events occur but every action is representational. The small use of dialogue coincides with this. This way it lets the filming do the talking, the camera shots as well as the music to build atmosphere. Short films tend to let the narrative unfold itself rather than using dialogue to explain the story. I chose to not use a lot of dialogue is used throughout my film, only few

words exchanged important scenes to establish the boys relationship building. I made a conscious decision for there not to be any dialogue or music, just the diagetic sounds in the first home but used music and family speaking in the second home. This was to represent how even though the first boy Andrew has a nice home and wealth, he is lonely without family but the second boy Dan has a caring family even his home may not be as desirable. This represents that wealth is a shallow quality in a person; money does not mean everything or necessarily leave you happier than those without.

Budget Looking into the background of the short film industry I learnt that most of the films are produced amateurs; students, work experience or people who individually want to express their ideas and opinions on current affairs etc. This meant that they were normally made on a low budget and the reason for most of them being set on real locations. We used this convention and filmed in two contrasting areas for each character‟s homes and seeing them from different perspectives. We set the camera up for the school scenes in actual school time to create the sense of realism with the natural actions of the students and ambient sounds.

Contrasting homes

Busy realism of school life

How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?

The ancillary texts that we have created are a poster advertising the film and a radio advert. When combined with the main video, it is all very effective and flow with a continuity of ideas. They both hint at the message behind the film without making the storyline obvious. They leave enough room for curiosity and for the audience to be intrigued into watching the film to find out what it‟s about.

Poster The image used is symbolic of the narrative and message, it captures the preferred reading of the film. This shot of the two main characters walking out of school at the same time but walking on opposite sides of the pavement represents them at the beginning of the film. They are two boys from completely different backgrounds; however have a lot in common. They cross each other‟s paths daily yet know nothing about each other. This picture symbolises them living parallel lives at school, but going home to something different. The perspective of the pavement going into the middle of the picture suggests that their lives will meet at some point in the film. Their paths in life are different but they can still relate to each other, social class does not have to determine friendship groups. The image challenges conventions slightly as it does not show the main characters faces but this decision was made to emphasise the fact that they represent society as a whole not just individuals and their personal stories. This helps the audience to relate to the film and if they are facing problems to do with social class then this should be an uplifting message to them. I also looked into the layout of posters for films however I based this on mainstream films as short films don‟t tend to advertise as they are small individual projects. I created the poster for „Collision‟ after researching these conventions...

[Pavement perspective of image previously

discussed]

Ratings and comments from other established industries – high ratings attract audience through recommendation

Production company on poster to for them to become established for producing the film

Title of film conventionally takes up about a third of the poster in size – we followed this. The font is bold to make a statement.

Two main characters names clearly in bold next to each of their bodies in the image - distinguish who is who and their name‟s get noticed in the acting industry.

Release date of the film usually at the bottom as the audience read top to bottom. First they are intrigued to what it is then read down to find out when they can view it. In red capitals with a drop shadow to make it stand out.

Certificate 12A – the film is aimed at 12-18 year olds. The content is based around events that would occur mainly between these ages. The certificate is conventionally on the bottom left corner.

Radio Advert The advert starts with a bell ringing to alarmingly draw the attention of the listener‟s. It also establishes that it is based in a school around school children, being specific for its target audience. The copy write gives the listener's an insight into the story without unfolding the whole narrative. It hints at the themes; social class. The voice speaks in a deep, clear voice but very slowly building suspense and raising a sense of curiosity as to the storyline. The car screech is designed to strike the listener‟s attention just before the title of the film is said...“Collision!”. This could help the audience to remember the film‟s title and therefore increase it‟s popularity. The sound just before suggests that the „collision‟ is to do with the car accident in which the two meet, however the line afterwards; “when two paths cross”, suggests a deeper meaning to the term „collision‟. It considers their whole different world‟s (in the sense of social class) colliding as they learn more about each other afterwards, not just a physical collision. The advert ends with the typical Producer and Actors names to promote the film. Song choice - Rebellion (Lies) Arcade Fire This song doesn't have any words at the beginning so we looped this to make sure the copy write of the advert is key, without any other words confusing it in the background. It has a strong beat which gradually builds up and creates a sense of positivity with an uplifting feel. I feel it gives off emotions of hope, that there is more to the world that you realise. Even though you may not have every designer item you wish or be able to afford to go out every weekend, it doesn't have to determine your friendship group and whole social life

How did you use new media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages? My technological skills in media have developed vastly from the beginning of this course. I learned a lot of things from scratch and developed my skills with practice and sometimes through trial and error on new programmes etc which I feel left me with a greater understanding. Being able to use the equipment, programmes and sites enabled me to produce a high quality, professional looking product and ancillary texts which would not have been possible without the use of technology.

Film: Filmed using a Panasonic digital video camera with zoom and a tripod. Edited using Final Cut Express on the Apple Mac computers with songs imported from iTunes and sound effects from the internet.

Poster: Layout designed through a sketch on paper. Photograph taken on an SLR camera with a tripod. Put together using Adobe Photoshop with text added.

Radio Advert: Recorded into a microphone connected to an Apple Mac Computer in a studio. Edited using Garage Band to change the voice and insert a song from iTunes and sound effects from the internet.

Storyboard Animation: Sketched out scenes and scanned images onto the Apple Mac. Images cut out using Adobe Photoshop and then put into order on Final Cut Express, edited the time lapse between each, added text titles and finally imported a song from iTunes for the background music.

What have you learned from your audience feedback?

To gain audience feedback for my film I set up a showing for 15 students from across the demographics of my school. These students ranged from 12-18; my target audience. After they all watched the film I gave them all my email address and asked them to write a point for „What Went Well‟ and a point for „Even Better If‟ and email back to me. I feel this was the best way to ask for feedback as it is personal by email so the students didn‟t just copy each other‟s answers; they had to think about it properly making the comments a more reliable source. It was beneficial for me because I got to know what my good points were but also what could have been worked on (constructive criticism).

Blog: Blogger.com – allowed me to design my own layout and colour scheme of blog to make it personal to my own work. All pieces uploaded as posts along the way completing deadlines in a diary type style. It made it easier to keep updating my work after feedback and was beneficial that it was easily accessible from home so I could log on and update my progress often.

Word Documents: Embedded into my blog using Slideshare.com. This allows the document to be easily read and clear to understand looking professional.

Radio Advert: uploaded to blog using Divshare.com.

Most of the positive feedback I got back from the students was about the storyline. The audience seemed to like that the film dealt with a real topic in society amongst people their age and feel the film showed a convincing representation. I am happy with this as I feel that that is the aim of most short films, they tell a simple story as a small representation of a larger problem. I like that they could relate because then it has done its job to raise awareness of the topic in society and lets the youth know they are not alone. This means the film might work well to be shown in schools as an educational type of video for an anti-bullying campaign letting children know that „differences‟ should not always determine friendships groups. The negative feedback involved the quality of the camera in some parts of the film for instance in the less wealthy boy Dan‟s house. I agree with this and know it could be improved with extra lighting sullied by me as the house lighting was not enough by itself and perhaps a High Definition camera. The students even pulled out parts of the film of representation that was not completely intentional by me; they liked the car crash as it created drama but thought it worked well as a „drive safe‟ campaign. They liked that it showed Andrew sending a text on his phone before he started speeding in the car which lead to the collision because it shows what can happen if you drive in a rush. This is beneficial to the target audience too because they are between the ages when you can first start learning to drive and need to think about the consequences if they choose to speed. The fact that the audience picked out a positive from something that was not completely intentional proves that the feedback is entirely beneficial. It is especially useful that I used the target audience for my feedback so I know exactly what they would be looking for if I had more time to make changes to improve my product.